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Before you sit down, let me 
greet you with the Easter 

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greeting. 
He is risen. 

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Amen. 
Take a seat. 

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I'm going to jump right into the
Easter story and the passage of 

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Scripture. 
Actually, that that very 

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greeting comes from is found in 
Luke chapter 24. 

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You can read along with me if 
you have a Bible that says. 

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Now on the first day of the 
week, very early in the morning,

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they and certain other women 
with them came to the tomb, 

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bringing the spices which they 
had prepared. 

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But they found the stone rolled 
away from the tomb. 

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Then they went in and did not 
find the body of the Lord Jesus.

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And it happened, as they were 
greatly perplexed, that behold, 

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2 men stood by them in shining 
garments. 

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Then, as they were afraid and 
bowed their faces to the earth, 

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they said to them, Why do you 
seek the living among the dead? 

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He is not here, but he is risen.
Amen. 

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This powerful phrase is a 
traditional Easter greeting 

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dating back to centuries ago and
it is now being said around the 

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world right now in over 1500 
different languages. 

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Christians and Christian 
tradition and cultures that have

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Christian roots are going from 
language to language and country

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to country. 
Greeting each other this morning

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with the powerful route reality 
that Christ has defeated the 

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grave and it's really the Easter
message in those three words. 

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I don't know if I can add 
anything to it other than point 

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out the necessity for it. 
So the title of this Easter 

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sermon is The Power of 3 Words. 
And I think you'll probably 

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notice that 3 words can pack a 
lot of meaning over the course 

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of the message. 
Think in times of your life 

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where your life is completely 
shifted, turned upside down, 

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been given new direction because
of three simple words. 

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Think of the first time that 
someone said to you I love you 

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in a romantic and meaningful way
and what a life changing that 

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moment was. 
Think of the time that you 

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received one of those messages 
that maybe feels like something 

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else. 
Can we talk? 

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3 words that could be anything 
but you know that they're going 

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to be life changing 3 words. 
We are over 3 words I am lost 

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and maybe 3 words to define 
where you're at in your own 

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spirituality or where you've 
come from. 

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Where is God or why? 
Me, God and all of those 

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represent in such powerful, 
concise packaging the course of 

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your history getting turned 
upside down. 

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And today we celebrate 3 words 
that did indeed turn the world's

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history upside down. 
With those 3 words, He has 

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risen, the entire world has 
shifted, and a movement from 

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Jesus to His disciples to the 
church to worldwide has started 

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with those 3 words being 
preached as the focal message 

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that have changed countless 
lives. 

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And when they are believed, 
those words can change any life 

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in this place right now. 
It isn't a matter of if they 

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have power, but whether or not 
you actually believe it. 

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A recent survey revealed that 
66% of Americans actually 

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believe the biblical accounts of
Jesus resurrection that we just 

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read physical resurrection 
moment in history. 

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But startingly, the the the 
startling news is that only 

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about half of that number 
strongly believe it. 

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So they believe it is history, 
they just don't believe it with 

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their life. 
So welcome to Easter Sunday, 

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where many of you believe it is 
history, you believe it is 

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tradition, you believe it as 
religion. 

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You just don't believe it with 
your life. 

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Because so often there is a 
complete breakdown between our 

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confession and our conviction. 
So the sermon could stop at 

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those 3 words. 
But since you're all here, we'll

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continue. 
And I want to just point out 

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what it would look like if the 
world had not been turned upside

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down by the reality of a 
resurrection. 

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What does it look like in the 
world where some of you 

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currently dwell where Christ 
practically has not given you 

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the power of his very own 
resurrection? 

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And for this we can actually 
look to the word because the 

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apostle Paul wrote a letter to a
church in Corinth wrestling with

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the question of the 
resurrection. 

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And so as he lays out the 
evidence of the resurrection and

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the philosophical thought for 
the resurrection, he also lays 

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out an alternative world where 
the resurrection doesn't happen.

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And in that world we can see the
grave consequences of if Easter 

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is just a myth. 
So if you have a Bible, once 

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again you can turn to 1st 
Corinthians chapter 15 starting 

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in verse 14. 
This is just a thought 

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experiment, but I find it a 
helpful 1. 

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He says if Christ is not risen, 
then our preaching is empty and 

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our faith also is empty. 
He goes on to say yes, and we're

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found to be false witnesses of 
God going around preaching this 

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message that Christ has 
conquered the grave, and if he 

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has it, the message is hopeless.
In other words, if the tomb is 

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not empty, the Christian message
is, and so is any faith that you

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would put inside of it. 
Theologian John Stott says the 

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person and work of Christ are 
the rock upon which the 

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Christian religion is built. 
If he is not who he said he was,

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and if Jesus did not do what he 
said he had come to do, namely 

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to pay for the sins of the world
by dying on the cross and 

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conquering death by rising on 
the third day, if this never 

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happened, the foundation is 
undermined and the whole 

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superstructure will collapse. 
So let me speak to some of you 

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who are not regular church 
attenders. 

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And you have your own critiques 
of Christianity, and I'm sure a 

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lot of them are valid. 
I just want to help help you 

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make sure that you have the 
right first and foremost 

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critique. 
Because first and foremost, your

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critique should not be that you 
just don't like Christians. 

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Welcome to the club. 
We sometimes don't like each 

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other. 
We're working on that. 

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That's why we meet every Sunday 
to talk about it. 

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Your critique of Christianity 
cannot just be and should not be

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that you don't like the ethics. 
How Jesus taught us to treat one

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another and to wait on him and 
to endure this world. 

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You may not like the ethics, but
if Christ conquered the grave, 

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you might want to listen to him 
about how your life was 

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designed. 
And your critique should not 

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just be well, what about all the
other religions? 

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Because today we find ourselves 
standing alone on a claim that 

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no other religion makes. 
If the bones of Buddha were 

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presented to us, Buddhism would 
be fine. 

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If the bones of Muhammad were 
discovered and the grave was was

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seen, Islam would move on and on
down the line. 

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Moses, if you find his grave, 
there's no problem with 

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celebrating Judaism. 
Joseph Smith, whoever the 

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religious leader is, they can 
die and the movement is not 

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dependent on their life. 
But with Christianity, if there 

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is no Christ, there is no 
message. 

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If Christ is dead, Christianity 
is a dead end. 

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And so for those of you who are 
visiting, you picked the perfect

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weekend because it all hinges on
today. 

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If the reality of the 
resurrection is true, you have 

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to bend your knee to Christ. 
And if it isn't, go to Barnes 

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and Noble. 
Buy a self help book and enjoy 

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the rest of your Sundays because
the message is hopeless. 

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Not only is the message hopeless
as Paul will continue to play 

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out this thought experiment. 
It says in the next verse. 

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And if Christ is not risen, your
faith is futile and you are 

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still in your sins. 
Yes, you have come to church to 

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hear that the problem with the 
world and the problem with your 

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world is that God had created 
you to live according to his 

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design and His ways and His 
will. 

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We call that righteousness, and 
all of us have fallen short of 

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that standard. 
Sin is the problem. 

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In the early 1900's, the Times 
of London reportedly sent out a 

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question to several authors and 
writers and thinkers of the day,

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and it was simple. 
What is wrong with the world? 

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And of course, being a 
newspaper, I'm sure they were 

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expecting to find a large word 
count of essays and proses about

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politics and society and 
economics. 

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Maybe tariffs, maybe not. 
Maybe morality, maybe all of the

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problems that breakdown in 
neighborhoods and the crumbling 

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issues of each city 
specifically, but one response 

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was the clear winner. 
It simply said, dear sirs, I am 

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yours truly, GK Chesterton, 
famous Christian theologian. 

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He in one simple phrase, could 
diagnose what is wrong with 

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every city, every country, every
world, including your world. 

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The problem with the world is 
that there is a sin problem and 

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every single one of us have been
sinned against, which I'm sure 

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you'll you'll be happy to point 
out. 

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And you have been the offender 
as well. 

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And the whole mission of 
religion is try is trying to 

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understand how to make right 
with that. 

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How do we make right with a holy
God as a sinful people? 

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And the message of Jesus, unique
amongst all other answers is 

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that God himself would provide a
way for people to be cleansed. 

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That there is no Easter message 
without a Good Friday where 

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Christ hangs on the cross to pay
the penalty for the sins of the 

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world, which is death. 
But if He did not rise, then 

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death conquered the Savior, and 
a dead Savior will not save you.

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It doesn't matter how loud you 
sing or how loud you plea. 

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If Christ remains in the grave, 
then you are still looking for 

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an answer to your sins. 
Not only is the message hopeless

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and we have no hope for the 
cleansing of our sins, we also 

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have no hope in death. 
He continues to write. 

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Then also those who have fallen 
asleep in Christ have perished. 

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Now just that one sentence is 
full of theology. 

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There is a Christian tradition 
that has now been part of 

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everyday language. 
Every time you use the word 

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cemetery, you are dating back to
the early Christian traditions 

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that believe those who died were
only sleeping. 

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Cemetery means resting place 
where the body would die and 

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wait in rest for a resurrection 
when Christ who raised from the 

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grave would then give life to 
the mortal bodies for those who 

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are in Christ by faith. 
And it is a faith statement to 

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say that those who have died are
only sleeping. 

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Anyone who believes in Jesus is 
their body is sleeping until the

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final day when he raises those 
who have put their faith in him.

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But if Christ has not raised, 
then sin has not been dealt with

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and death has not been defeated.
And those who have put their 

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faith in Christ, or anything 
else for that matter, have no 

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reason to believe that there is 
life beyond this life. 

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He says that those who have died
are perished. 

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That means expired for good. 
And let me share my experience 

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as a pastor who gets the joy of 
standing on this very stage in a

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similar setting, flowers and 
people who are dressed nicer 

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than usual coming to a funeral. 
And I've done countless funerals

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over my years of being a pastor.
And I have to say, there is no 

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better place to preach an Easter
message than to those who are 

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weeping the sorrow of love lost 
in the face of death. 

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And over the years of preaching 
those messages, I find the 

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audience to be very 
indiscriminate in what they're 

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willing to receive that day. 
Meaning, you don't have to be a 

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believer in Jesus or a Christian
when you come to the funeral. 

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Ignited inside of your heart is 
the reality that we know that 

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death is not supposed to win. 
The Bible says in the book of 

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Ecclesiastes that God has 
written eternity on our hearts 

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and because our hearts long for 
eternity, every time someone 

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dies it feels wrong. 
God created us to live with him 

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forever and when we face death, 
we are meant to have something 

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that stares in the face of death
and says you will not win. 

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But if death did win, if God 
sent his son into the world and 

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the son remained dead, we have 
no hope for the funeral. 

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And the funeral awaits all of 
us. 

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Every funeral you go to is just 
a preview of your own. 

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It comes quite unexpectedly when
you're least expecting it. 

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And every single one of you have
to give an answer to the 

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eternity that is written in your
heart for how you live this life

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with any hope that it is not the
end. 

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We have no hope in the message 
of Christ if He did not rise. 

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We have no hope that our sins 
could be forgiven if He did not 

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rise. 
We have no hope in the face of 

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death if He did not rise. 
And we have no hope in very life

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itself, he finally says, if in 
this life only we have hope in 

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Christ, we of all men are the 
most to be pitied. 

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I have heard it said, and maybe 
you have thought this yourself, 

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that even if Easter was a myth, 
even if Jesus was just a good 

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idea passed down from the hands 
of historians that were well 

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meaning, surely we can say that 
his moral teaching is worth 

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clinging to. 
Anyone who reads the Sermon on 

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the Mount and reads the ethics 
of Jesus and his vision for a 

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community of people to live 
together and love together and 

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self sacrifice could see a 
vision for any family or any 

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city or any government to build 
a foundation upon regardless of 

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the reality of a resurrection. 
And yet the Apostle Paul says 

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that that is foolishness, that 
if you put your faith in Christ 

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and his ways and live your life 
as though this is a reality, the

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resurrection is real, a truth of
history, and it's not. 

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The world should feel sorry for 
you and it stands to reason. 

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Read the Sermon on the Mount and
read it with no hope of any 

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reward after this life. 
Why on earth if someone slapped 

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your cheek would you turn to 
give them another? 

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If there is no God of justice. 
If there is no final reward 

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where you will endure suffering 
and for the end when you can be 

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greeted with the beautiful 
phrase well done, good and 

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faithful servant. 
If there is no reward for giving

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the shirt off your back to 
someone in need, there is no 

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finality and end of the story 
that is good and not just death.

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Why would you do that? 
Why would you go the extra mile 

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when an enemy to asks you to 
carry his bags for one? 

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If there is no final reward to 
any of this, Paul will go on to 

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point out the absurdity of 
living this life with any sense 

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of duty to the fellow man or 
idea that you'd be rewarded for 

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how you live. 
In the same chapter he says if 

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the dead do not rise, let us eat
and drink and be merry, for 

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tomorrow we die. 
Live it up today, tomorrow you 

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die and that's that. 
One person said live like a live

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like a hog and die like a dog. 
There's no point and we could 

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expound upon what he said. 
Lie, cheat and be greedy. 

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For tomorrow you die and that's 
that. 

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Worry, despair and be hopeless. 
For tomorrow you die and that's 

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that. 
Scroll swipe and be numb to it 

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all. 
For tomorrow you die and that is

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that. 
Because life has no meaning. 

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There's no end to the story. 
If Christ did not rise, this is 

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all you'll ever going to have. 
The Christian message would be 

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hopeless. 
There is no hope for sin, there 

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is no hope for death, and there 
is no hope for life. 

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And as I preach that on 
Resurrection Sunday, it all 

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seems patently wrong. 
How dare we speak of such 

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hopelessness in the face of the 
resurrection reality. 

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And that is why, as you continue
to read this letter that Paul 

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wrote, so everyone would know, 
he says, but now. 

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But now Christ is risen from the
dead and he has become the first

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fruits for those who have fallen
asleep. 

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He's become the preview, the 
pattern of what's to come for 

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everyone who have put their 
faith and their trust and their 

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life into his hands. 
His ending becomes your ending, 

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His beginning becomes your 
beginning and that is why there 

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is no one like him. 
As we saying, there is nothing 

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in the world like the 
celebration of God sending His 

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Son into the world, defeating 
sin and death, leaving in the 

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grave and coming out the victor 
so that we could say there is 

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power in our God. 
And we now stand 2025 years 

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later in a line of history 
defined by the resurrection of 

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Christ, when death reigned and 
when death was defeated. 

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And I once again sympathize and 
speak to those of you who come 

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here as skeptics or feeling as 
outsiders not yet convinced of 

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the message of the reality of 
death being defeated for all of 

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humanity to hear the message of 
the gospel. 

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Because it is hard to prove or 
falsify an event from 2025 years

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ago. 
If you are interested, if God is

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prompting you to to seek him 
still, I encourage you to read 

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the entirety of First 
Corinthians 15. 

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It is Paul's defense of the 
resurrection. 

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He starts with the historical 
witnesses, those who experienced

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him, the disciples who went from
disbelief to belief because they

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encountered him. 
Paul shares of his own 

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testimony, an enemy of Christ 
won by the encounter he had with

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the living Christ. 
He speaks of 500 people who saw 

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him at once, witnesses that at 
the time could have been asked 

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to give their account. 
But even without the historical 

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evidence, without you being 
there yourself, there is a way 

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for you to encounter the power 
of the resurrection here and 

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00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,120
now. 
I like what CS Lewis says about 

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why he believes in Christianity.
He says I believe in 

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Christianity as I believe that 
the sun has risen not only 

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because I see it, but because by
it I see everything else. 

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Says I believe in Christianity 
like I believe the sun has 

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00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:36,960
risen. 
Yes, I can see it rise, but once

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it rises, it shines light on 
everything else. 

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And that same perspective can be
used to confirm the reality of 

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the resurrection. 
Not just because it happened, 

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yes, it happened, but because it
happened, you can now see 

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everything else. 
Consider everything we found 

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hopeless apart from Christ 
raising from the grave. 

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Now experienced by all of you 
who believe because Christ is 

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risen, you can experience the 
power of the gospel, The 

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00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,360
Christian message. 
You can experience well that 

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when the Lord allows you to sit 
under the power of the message, 

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you can receive it in your heart
and it can in fact change your 

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life. 
You can receive the power of the

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Holy Spirit. 
Romans chapter 8 verse 11 says, 

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but if the Spirit of him who was
raised Jesus from the dead 

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dwells in you, he who raised 
Christ from the dead will also 

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give life to your immortal 
bodies through his Spirit who 

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dwells in you. 
You can go from powerless 

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message to the power of the 
gospel by the indwelling of the 

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Spirit that gives life to your 
life. 

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Now because he is risen, you can
experience the forgiveness of 

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all of your sins. 
No doubt when sins are 

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mentioned, one of the reasons it
makes us uncomfortable is 

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because we're really good at 
keeping our record. 

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Some of you know what you've 
done, some of you know what 

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you're doing. 
Jesus says anyone who sins is a 

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slave to sin. 
And you can spend your whole 

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00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,280
life wrestling with the things 
that you do that you don't want 

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00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,480
to do that add the burden of 
guilt and shame to your life. 

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But since He has risen, you can 
experience the chains of sin 

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00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,400
being broken. 
And how many of us stand here 

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00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,560
celebrating the power of the 
resurrection with an encounter 

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00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:40,400
of being set free from the power
of sin to live in the power of 

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00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:44,560
Christ? 
Ephesians chapter 1 says in Him 

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we have redemption through his 
blood, the forgiveness of sins 

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00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,480
according to the riches of His 
grace. 

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I've heard it said the cross of 
Christ is the payment and the 

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00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,800
resurrection of Christ is the 
receipt. 

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00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:06,360
Our sins are paid in full. 
No one has to leave here 

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00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,000
burdened by their mistakes and 
their failures, feeling 

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00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,560
separated from God and people. 
You can experience the reality 

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00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,840
of the resurrection by 
experiencing the reality of 

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00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:21,320
freedom from sin. 
And because he is risen, you can

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00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:25,560
experience hope in the face of 
death. 

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00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,520
Paul will go on to write a 
promise that all of you sit 

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00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:34,080
under as we celebrate Easter 
looking back on a moment in 

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00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:35,800
history. 
We celebrate Easter looking 

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00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,280
forward for a future moment of 
history. 

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00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,440
And that is when in First 
Thessalonians chapter 4, it says

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00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:45,880
that the Lord himself will 
descend from heaven with a 

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00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,480
shout, with the voice of an 
Archangel, and with the trumpet 

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00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:51,640
of God. 
And the dead in Christ will 

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00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,480
rise. 
And you can know that reality 

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00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,720
now. 
You can go through the pain of a

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00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,840
lost loved one and know that if 
they are in Christ, you will see

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00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,600
them again. 
You can receive that for your 

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00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,360
own life. 
And the fear of headline news 

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00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:11,600
and the death that plagues our 
world does not have to be a fear

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00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:16,360
you live in because you have a 
vision for life afterlife. 

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00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:26,720
Because He has risen, you have a
reward for your faith, that you 

365
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,520
can listen to the teachings of 
Jesus, you can live the Sermon 

366
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,400
on the Mount, you can suffer in 
this life for the joy of the 

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00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,680
life to come. 
As Jesus was approaching the 

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00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,360
cross, he says in this world 
you'll have much trouble and I 

369
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:42,480
don't. 
You don't need a preacher to 

370
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,480
tell you that in this world you 
will have much trouble. 

371
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:50,280
Amen. 
But Jesus says, take heart, I've

372
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,200
overcome. 
And today we stand on the 

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00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:55,040
reality that He has overcome 
death. 

374
00:26:55,320 --> 00:27:00,720
What else plagued your life that
he cannot overcome? 

375
00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:09,080
3 words that will change your 
life. 3 words that changed the 

376
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,400
course of the history of our 
world. 3 words that have changed

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00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:20,400
so many of you, from death to 
life, from hopelessness to hope.

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00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:28,240
Are you ready? 
He is risen. 3 words. 

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He is risen. 
Amen.